11.17.2008

A whole bowlful

I had intended to talk about dessert today. You’ve been extremely kind about the recent vegetable recipe bonanza around here, and to thank you, I wanted to bake you something especially nice. You deserve it. So I made a pan of gingerbread. The recipe was new to me, but it looked delicious: good and spicy, with rum-soaked raisins and crystallized ginger and orange zest and a pretty glaze. I just knew you would love it. I was very excited. To make sure it was worthy, I cut a couple of slices to eat after dinner the other night, while we sat on the couch with a DVD of Dog Whisperer, hoping that Cesar Millan might, god willing, help us understand why Jack is so weird sometimes. But unfortunately, it wasn’t very good. I mean, Cesar was fine - calm-assertive, as usual - but the gingerbread was only so-so. It tasted a little too strongly of molasses, and the glaze was too sweet. Actually, I think the first word that came to mind was meh.

I really am sorry. I tried.

But on the upside, the Parade of Underappreciated Vegetables marches on! Or rolls on! Or tumbles on! Or whatever it is that kohlrabi does.

Up until about a week ago, I did not expect to ever say the word kohlrabi on this site. I had eaten it three or four times, usually sliced thinly and dunked in aioli or vinaigrette, and though it was pleasant, I didn’t feel particularly inspired to buy it again. It has a very nice flavor - a cross between a cabbage and a broccoli stem, but milder and sweeter than both - but still, I was unmoved. It seemed unapproachable, difficult somehow. It always caught my eye at the farmers’ market, but more as a sort of vegetal artwork than anything else. To me, it was kind of like Damien Hirst’s dead shark in formaldehyde, the one that’s on display right now at the Met: interesting to look at, even beautiful to some, but at the end of the day, a little too weird. (Is that a bad comparison? Yes?)

But the weekend before last, I went to Wordstock, a literary festival in Portland, and while I was there, I met Ivy Manning, author of The Farm to Table Cookbook. Over the past few months, a couple of you have e-mailed me about her book, telling me how wonderful it is, and I thought she might like to know, so I told her. (Thank you, by the way, for giving me something to say to her; I am sometimes a little shy.) She was warm and funny and down-to-earth, and the two of us got chatting, and somehow we wound up on the subject of kohlrabi. I have no idea how it happened, but it did, and I am now forever indebted to her, because in the course of that conversation, she told me about a recipe in her book, a recipe for a kohlrabi salad that, as of lunchtime today, officially changed everything.

In fact, between Brandon and I, we ate almost a whole bowlful - normal yield: 6 servings - in a single sitting. I don’t know why it took me so long to warm to kohlrabi, but I think I made up for it today. Ivy’s recipe, which comes from Chef Fearn Smith of The Farm Café in Portland, makes a bright, refreshing salad that could win over any skeptic, myself included. Actually, when Ivy was describing it to me, she referred to it as “The Y Chromosome Salad,” because it has conquered, in particular, so many doubting men. You just peel and julienne a carrot and two kohlrabi - a slightly tricky venture, admittedly, since kohlrabi is quite hard, but it’s well worth the effort - and then you dress them with a mixture of rice vinegar, olive oil, toasted sesame oil, and ground toasted fennel seeds. What results is wonderfully cool and crunchy and light, a taste of high summer in the middle of fall. The dressing is gently Asian-inspired, but it gets a twist of intrigue from the sweet, fragrant fennel seeds, and the crispness of the kohlrabi is oddly addictive - a bit like water chestnuts or jicama, only less watery and with more flavor.

I ate mine with a peanut butter sandwich, if you really want to know, and though the pairing was not promising, it was somehow completely delicious. Brandon ate his portion with some chickpeas and slices of sharp cheddar, and he pronounced it especially tasty with the cheese. It would be terrific, I think, with roasted chicken or fish, or even with a grilled cheese sandwich. Or a turkey sandwich. Or absolutely anything.

P.S. If you’d like to take a peek, artist Stephanie Levy posted an interview with me on her site. (I had so much fun, Stephanie. Thank you.) And over at slow blogs, Monna said some very kind things about this site. (Thanks, Monna! What a sweet surprise.) And boiled kale had a day in the sun on nytimes.com. (Huzzah, kale!)

Kohlrabi is available almost year-round, and lately my farmers’ market has some particularly gorgeous specimens. When choosing kohlrabi, be sure to look for nice, hard bulbs. If the leaves are still attached, all the better: they’re an indicator of freshness. (If the leaves are yellow or wilted, don’t buy it.) Oh, and try not to buy the huge ones: their flavor is often stronger and less sweet than the smaller or more moderate-sized specimens.

Also, note that I left out the pea shoots when I made this. And I added garlic. I’m sure it would be wonderful with the shoots, but they would have required a special trip to the Asian market downtown. So I went ahead without them, and I wasn’t the least bit sorry.

Trim away any stems from the kohlrabi bulb. Using a sharp chef’s knife or a sharp vegetable peeler, cut and discard away its tough outer skin. Then julienne the kohlrabi, using either a mandolin or the same sharp knife. (Because kohlrabi is hard and dense, I found the mandolin to be a bit precarious, so I used a little of both.) Julienne the carrot too.

In a small dry skillet, toast the fennel seeds over medium heat until they begin to brown slightly and smell toasty. Transfer them to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, and grind them into a coarse powder.

In a small bowl, combine the fennel seeds, vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic, if using. Slowly whisk in the olive oil and sesame oil. Pour over the vegetables and toss to coat. Taste, and add more salt, if needed.

Chop the pea shoots, if using, into 1-inch pieces and toss into the salad immediately before serving.

71 Comments:

This might be the tipping point for me too, which you do so well with all things I have yet to experience! I a excited for it, but not as excited for a certain pizza place to open! Baited breath indeed!

Well, I for one am not partial to sweet things and am very partial to kohlrabi (ie, hooray for the vegetable dishes! thank you!). I planted a bunch of this winter and have been hunting down recipes for it - this one sounds perfect!

I actually really love kohlrabi, and this recipe looks wonderful! We ate it raw growing up, but my preferred method of preparing it lately has been to dice or julienne it, saute till a bit browned and tender, then toss it with a bit of salt, pepper, and browned butter.

I wanted to comment on your PS note. I can't help but feel oh-so-proud of you! I love that you are so popular and stay so grounded. Thank you! Oh, and kohlrabi? I thought the only connection I would have with this vegetable is saying its fun name..now I must try it!

I love kohlrabi! I discovered it for myself some time ago and have tried to prepare it in several ways since, for example in a soufflé, or in a mild curry sauce. So I am grateful for any kohlrabi recipe, and your salad certainly sounds fantastic!

i'm excited for a new kohlrabi recipe. a taste of summer in the fall is always appreciated. ;) lovely interview over at stephanie's too. tom has made a new beer....called hocloc (hints of coriander, loads of cascade). i wish you and b could come over to try it. xx

I adore fennel seeds...am always sneaking them into things--so the salad with them sounds great. :) I also am a huge molasses fan, and love molasses-y gingerbread... (I just made gingerbread the other day, the Joy of Cooking recipe, and it made me very happy...I think gingerbread is my favorite cake...) But...should you find your perfect gingerbread recipe, with less of a molasses whollop, would like to give it a go.

here is where i admit my ignorance publicly. i have heard of kohlrabi, but never seen it, so in my mind it was some different version of broccoli rabe. kinda makes sense, huh? ok, it doesn't. it does sound delightful, but knowing my kitchen knives, i'm going to have to get a better one before i try to julienne anything hard. :)

Funny; just last week I dealt with my latest CSA kohlrabi by shaving it into thin slices with a vegetable peeler and dressing it with sesame oil, rice vinegar and a drop of soy. It was great--must be a natural pairing.

I am a molasses freak and would be very interested in your gingerbread recipe. If it calls for sugar, I will of course have to substitute with a natural sweetener as my year without sugar is not quite over!

So interesting! I am now eager to try kohlrabi -- I love trying new vegetables and appreciate the inspiration.

Raiding your recipe list, as I so often do, I made FOUR of your sweet treats for a trip to West Virginia a couple of weekends ago...they were undoubtedly the talk of the weekend so double, no quadruple thanks!!There's no shortage of amazing sweet/dessert-ish recipes on your site so I'm grateful for the influx of veggie recipes! You have impeccable taste! :)

I love kohlrabi too, but hardly ever see it in the market. My mom used to grow it in our garden, but I don't think I've had it as an adult. I really need to know how to pronounce it, though. Is it like coal-rabbi, call-robby, coal-robby? Help! :-)

Thanks for this! We'll try it soon ... maybe for tonight's potluck? Usually we slice it and eat it with a bit of salt and olive oil -- or grate it into an autumn slaw. Some of my older eastern European customers talk about boiling it and mashing it like potatoes, but I haven't tried that yet.

I'm always happy for recipes to pass out at market, especially for our funkier vegetables. We're nearing the end of market season this year -- but starting a CSA next year! Expect lots of site visits from our CSA members :)

oh thank you! i've been gorging myself (can you say gorging when referring to vegetables?!) on this roasted kohlrabi and butternut squash recipe and have been looking to branch out. on a side note, your boiled kale and egg has become my comfort food...keep the vegetable recipes coming!

It would go great with roasted chicken!! In fact I make a version of this salad with broccoli and carrot slaw, instead of Kohlrabi in which you add cold roasted chicken shredded (preferably leftover from the previous evening's roasted chicken if there is any left) and a sweet/vinegar asian dressing similar to the one you describe. In fact adding the cold chicken turns into a filling lunch by itself.

I think I may have bought a kohlrabi years ago in college at the Bellingham farmers' market. No idea how I ate it - probably raw, I'm guessing. In my mind, I lump it together with jicama, so I'd love to try it again.

In high school, my friend's answering machine (which dates me, huh - teens nowadays probably all have cell phones w/voicemail) message for a long time had an excerpt from a Strawberry Shortcake book-on-tape that was the Purple Pieman saying "kohrabi cookies are the yum-yum-yummiest". So, that always comes to mind now when I hear kohrabi! Such a funny association, and oddly enough it's even referenced in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Shortcake_in_Big_Apple_City

Molly, I love Ivy Manning's book too (posted about it here), but have not picked it up since the season changed. Now I must do so because I love kohlrabi. When I lived in Basel, Switzerland (gulp, 15 years ago) my boss made it regularly. She braised slices in white wine and broth then added a little butter when the liquid had reduced. I thought it was heavenly. My biggest regret is that I did not write down all of her wonderful recipes when I was there. Thanks for being a consistent inspiration!

We planted a bunch of kohlrabi this year and have used it in a kohlrabi and apple slaw to top pulled pork sandwiches. If you have a mandoline you can always use that to julienne the kohlrabi, just make sure you use the guard because sometimes it likes to fight back.

As someone who would have a slice of cake for dinner and follow it with another slice for dessert I feel I shouldn't admit how much I've been loving your vegetable-y posts. The kale was absolutely divine (and one of the few things I would pick over something sweet) and I look forward to making this because although I do really like kohlrabi, I never really know what to do with it.

Keep the parade coming! More underappreciated vegetables please! Seriously, I've gotten used to preparing vegetables simply, either roasting or sauteing with olive oil, salt and pepper - which almost always yields good results, but it can get kind of boring. Your recent series of posts have reminded me that each vegetable is unique, and with a little TLC its best qualities can really be enhanced.

BTW, I made the kale last night, and it was out of this world. I spread a little goat cheese on the garlic-rubbed toast before spooning the kale over it, and I'd highly recommend this addition. I'm so glad I have leftover kale to make it again tonight!!

Count me in as another fan who almost always prefers veggie ideas over sweet things. I love it that you're showcasing some of the more obscure veggies! I've never cooked savoy cabbage or kohlrabi before, & now thanks to you I will. What could be more exciting than a new ingredient?!

I have a most fabulous gingerbread recipe. Really, it is the very best! I am happy to share:http://poeticappetite.blogspot.com/Look for post on October 20, thankfully I don't update so frequently so it is right at the top!

Wow, that does sound ... weird! Yet intriguing, and another winter vegetable to add to the repertoire would be very welcome. Should I be embarrassed to admit that I've never heard of kohlrabi before? Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to trying it!

I love kohlrabi! My favorite preparation is with goat cheese and dill, but this slaw sounds wonderful. I've also recently discovered that the kohlrabi greens are quite tasty if you find them still attached. They taste a bit like collard greens and can be prepared in the same ways.

The march of under appreciated is a fine topic. I haven't tried your drunken kale yet, but it's on the list when kale comes back around in rotation. Kale, cabbage, beets and squash have been my recent playthings. And kohlrabi experiments may have to come before the drunken kale.

Well, I, for one, am THRILLED with all the veggie postings lately!! I completely prefer them to the sweet recipes...although I am sure those are fabulous, too. I just REALLY like my veggies. :)I am also OVER THE MOON about the fact you are a fan of all my favorite vegetables! Hooray for kale and cabbage and brussel sprouts! Woo Hoo!!Anyway, thanks for this latest post. I cannot wait to try it!!

I am a finalist in the Marx Foods Comfort Food Recipe contest. And yes, I am shamelessly soliciting votes for my “Crab-a-Roni and Cheese” recipe from the foodie blogs I regularly read. I’d really appreciate your vote (only if you think my recipe looks worthy, of course)! Clicking on the link above and selecting my recipe should do it — thanks in advance!

Here's a question for you, Molly, or anyone else out there: where can I buy wonderful fig preserves?

I have been craving figs for an entire year, and I live in a place where figs don't grow, and I've never seen them at a grocery store here (though they probably wouldn't be good after so much travel) so I'm resorting to trying to find preserves. Any help would be much appreciated! jessica.sapoznick@gmail.com

ong time reader, first time poster here. Molly, I love your blog! Everything I've made per your suggestion has been wonderful, particularly the chick pea and parm salad; like vanilla and orange, those flavors magically work together to create something much better than their parts. In appreciation, I'd like to return the favor with a suggestion. I'm a certified professional dog trainer who uses positive reinforcement. I highly encourage you to check out www.apdt.com (The Association of Pet Dog Trainers) to find a positive reinforcement trainer for Jack. Unfortunately, Mr. Milan's methods aren't endorsed by positive reinforcement trainers or most animal behaviorists. Of course, no judgment! But I thought it might be useful information for you. Thanks again!

Thanks for the inspiration. This was on the menu for last night's dinner, except that I couldn't find kohlarbi anywhere (well of the two places that I tried that should've had it if anyone did) in the Boston area. I opted for beets, roasted them and used them instead. It worked out very nicely, and the pea tendrils (same as shoots?) worked very nicely.chowplay.blogspot.com

hi molly, the comparison of kohlrabi to damien hirst's dead shark was one of the most inspired things i have ever read. thank you for that :)hope the blues are making way for sunshine this weekend. xox

Your site is the first one I started reading before creating mine and the one I always read first thing on Sunday mornings curled up on the sofa. It's a once a week catch up that I can't miss...like candy cane on Christmas day :)Great interview!

I made this for lunch yesterday for me and my mother, and we managed to eat two thirds of a 2x recipe... It was delicious. I had never heard of kohlrabi, but now I count it among one of my new favourite veggies.

I had this planned for dinner with an Asian marinated skirt skirt steak and bok choy. It didn't make it. I had a plate to taste on its own. Now, for my second plate I'm having it with no-kead rye toast and butter. Half of the bowl is now gone.

Just made this tonight, and I'm kind of conflicted. On the one hand, I found the fennel with the sesame oil to be kind of a bizarre combination. On the other hand, I did find it kind of addictive. Would like to make this again with a higher carrot to kohlrabi ratio, and with toasted cumin seeds instead of fennel... But it was nice to eat something fresh tasting in the winter...

I guess there must be endless variations on dressings for the kohlrabi-carrot julienne salad. The version I make (from a BBC cooking show but I forget which) calls for mustard and cumin seeds to be fried in hot oil til they sputter. The mix is then poured on the julienned carrots and kohlrabi (half of which would have already been devoured as a snack during the prep). Add lemon juice. Toss. Eat. Or if you have enough patience, refrigerate about half an hour and reap the rewards of your patience (the flavors reach another dimension). Try a "slaw" version with plain/Greek yogurt. Or try it with shredded white cabbage...

I wasn't sure where to put this post, so I hope you find it here...I just made your Green Papaya salad recipe from Bon Appetit (May 2010)--but I substituted raw kohlrabi for the papaya. Wow! So yummy! And much easier to find here in the Northeast. I might add a bit of lime zest next time since papaya is more tart than the kohlrabi--but then again, I might leave it exactly the way it is! Thanks for a lovely, light "almost summer I can feel it" dinner.